Sunday, August 6, 2023 AM

Let's go to the Lord together in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day. Thank you for your provision in our lives. You have brought us here to this place. You have been faithful every day.

How great is your faithfulness. And this morning yet again, your mercies are as fresh as ever. Thus far, you have helped us. Each day we mark our Ebenezer and give you praise. You are worthy of our praise and our thanksgiving far more than we can express.

So we ask that you would bless us with your Holy Spirit. That our response to you today would be appropriate to your holiness and to your glory. That all that is inexpressible that we desire to say, that we desire to communicate in our praise to you, would be done by your Spirit.

That you would be properly honored as you lift us to yourself. And we pray this way, confident of your smile upon us because of your Son Jesus. Indeed, who is our righteousness. Our only plea before you, our great High Priest.

In Him you are well pleased. We are here today, Father, to obey your instructions. To listen to Him. To listen to your Son, your Word. Speak to us through your Word, the Scriptures, by your Spirit. And so we pray that you would grace us with this.

That you would feed us and shape us and mold us and lift us to worship you. And we pray these things in the name of your Son Jesus.

Amen.

I invite you to open your Bibles and turn with me to Acts. The book of Acts chapter 9. And we will read verses 36 through 43 here in a moment. Acts chapter 9, verses 36 through 43. The title is Rise, part 2.

And the reason being that there are several passages that come in a sequence, seven of them to be exact, which all have the same themes repeated, pretty much in the same order. And at the heart of each one of these passages, whether it's about Peter healing Aeneas or raising Dorcas from the dead or talking to Cornelius, it doesn't matter what passage it is, these seven passages in a row all center on a command to rise.

Same kind of word, same word that came up in Jesus' discussion with Martha about the resurrection from the dead. And Jesus calling Himself the resurrection and the life. And so on your handout you see there the themes that are found in each one of the passages.

And you see the pattern there, kind of like seven mountains all set together. So there the overview is. There's the helicopter tour before the hike. And we're on the hike. And we've come to the second passage in a row where we're thinking about Peter just like the life being given to Saul of Tarsus, his world turned upside down by the resurrected Lord Jesus.

Philip being sent out and preaching the gospel of the risen Lord Jesus. Stephen giving his life preaching the gospel for the risen Lord Jesus. Here's Peter. Already seen Peter preaching so far. Saw him preach at Pentecost.

We saw him and John preaching in the temple. We saw the apostles being persecuted. But here's Peter on his own. Kind of like Stephen, kind of like Philip and Saul. Here he is on the move for the cause of Christ, preaching the gospel of the risen Lord Jesus.

And he's about to get his world turned upside down as well. He's going to have a vision about all kinds of unclean animals. He's going to have a moment, a crisis of faith, where he's going to have to go into a Gentile's house and preach the gospel to Gentiles and stay with Gentiles and eat Gentile food.

This is going to turn his life upside down. And it's going to cause no end of consternation amongst the early church, especially in Jerusalem. Before we get there, we have these two stories. One in which Peter sees a man, lame, for eight years, Aeneas, and he is healed.

And this story that we're about to read about a woman to be raised from the dead by the power of Christ. And the Lord is working on Peter. The Lord is softening Peter's heart. He's getting him ready for this very important moment of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles.

I'd like you to stand with me as we read God's holy word, Acts 9, beginning at verse 36. At Joppa, there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds, which she did.

But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. And since Lyda was near Joppa, and the disciples heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them.

Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room, and all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with him.

But Peter put them all out and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body, he said, Tabitha, arise. And she opened her eyes. And when she saw Peter, she sat up. And he gave her his hand and lifted her up.

And when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord. So it was that he stayed many days in Joppa with Simon A. Tanner.

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. So I've tried to give some names to these seven passages, creative names, names that you would hope would be the name of some mountain somewhere.

And the first was the Rose of Sharon. As we read that the gospel went out to all of Lyda, this Jewish city, probably not very big, probably it's a one-gate town. Aeneas is sitting out there at the front gate, lame and begging.

And this is where Peter probably meets him. But here's Lyda, and Lyda is turned upside down by the preaching of the gospel and the healing of Aeneas, and everyone gets really excited. But Lyda is in a region called Sharon.

We're not told that at first. We're told that at the last bit of the story. That all who dwelt at Lyda and Sharon saw Aeneas healed by the name of Jesus Christ, and they turned to the Lord. They turned to the Lord, the risen Lord Jesus, who had healed Aeneas.

After all, Peter had said, Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you. And Luke makes sure that we know that the gospel came to Sharon.

And that's good news.

That's good news. Long time ago, there was a son born to David. And the son of David, Solomon, once said to his beloved in Song of Solomon 2, verse 1, I am the rose of Sharon. And indeed, the king stood in for the whole nation, and as long as he was on good terms with the Lord, the whole nation prospered, prospered down to the roots.

They had rain in its season. They had fertility in the ground, and the families prospered, and their borders were secure. Blessing upon blessing upon blessing. So it was not an exaggeration for Solomon to say, I am the rose of Sharon.

Do you know that prosperity did not last? Those blessings all crumbled away. Vanity, vanity, always vanity, and chasing after the wind. And Solomon gave himself over to this thing after the next thing after the next thing, seeking pleasure after pleasure after pleasure, and found that it was all without profit because he had left his first love to fear the Lord.

And the kings who came after Solomon also followed idols, and they too were unfaithful. And Israel became more and more covered over by the covenant curses that God had promised in Deuteronomy 28 and 29, until Sharon had no more roses.

Sharon was a wilderness. Sharon was bleak, dry, without water, without beauty. It was a sad place. Isaiah noted this, noted the reason for it, the sin of the people, but then gave a prophecy of one who was to come, a king.

And he said that the hope of Jerusalem and the hope of Israel was to behold your king in his beauty. And when they did that, everything would begin to change, including roses blooming once again in Sharon.

Well, Luke says the gospel just came to Sharon. And here, bounty begins again. Here, things are being made new. And like those who sat in darkness, seeing a great light, those who sat in the wilderness experienced great growth.

Now, was it true that the people living in Galilee and the ancient tribal lands of Naphtali and Zebulun, that the sun just didn't shine there? That although down in Samaria and Judea the sun came up at 6 o 'clock in the morning, it just never came up a little bit north?

No, of course not. Not that kind of darkness. They saw a great light. Was there a new sun in the sky, two suns over Galilee and only one over Judea? No, not that kind of light. And there was a wilderness in Sharon, but now there's a rose blooming there.

The gospel has come. The gospel has come. And so, we move on to the next story. There is Peter. All of Lydah and Sharon saw him and turned to the Lord. A great deal of excitement. People are coming and going out of Lydah, and it's just a stop on the way to Joppa.

And so, the news obviously went on to Joppa. And at Joppa, something terrible has just happened. It is devastating to the believers there. There was a disciple, a follower of Christ, one who was born again.

She loved the Lord, and she did the work of the Lord in kindness. She was full of good works and charitable deeds. Notice, she was full of good works and charitable deeds. Now, notice the important part, brothers and sisters, which she did.

Now, some people are full, just chock full of good works and charitable deeds, which they highly recommend that you go do. Chock full of good works and charitable deeds, which they think about. But this woman was full of good works and charitable deeds, which she did.

Now, that is something to praise the Lord about. Look at how the grace of the Lord does not come short in her life. All the way through, from her heart to her hands. I remember the first Sunday that I was here as your pastor.

I did not preach that morning. It was Brother Ralph Bullard. And he stood before us and reminded us what integrity means. It's when what you think and what you say and what you do all agree. And here is a woman full of integrity, a good reputation, somebody that everybody loved.

And she became sick and died. This was devastating to the saints there in Joppa. Now, notice, she was dead as dead can be. For they washed her and they laid her in an upper room. To give themselves time to honor her, to remember her.

To rejoice in all the blessings that God had given to them. And to mourn the great loss to their community, to their church. This is why they washed her, this is why they laid her in an upper room. Oh, they are sorrowful for her soul has left her body.

She is absent from her body and present with the Lord. And all that the saints can do for their dear sister is to treasure and care for her body. That's all that's left for them. And so they do. Now, what to do?

Is there a man in Joppa? Is there somebody here who could help bring the word? Is there somebody who could just help this church deal with this great sorrow?

This heartbreak?

Oh, word just came. Peter is down in Lyda. He is nearby. Before we bury our sister's body, let's get him here.

We need comfort. We need help.

We need somebody else to come alongside us. And so they send men to Lyda, imploring him not to delay, imploring Peter not to delay in coming to them. What's the rush? Well, these are no Egyptians. They're not going to embalm her body.

It's time to bury her before she's buried. They need a word from Peter. They need encouragement.

They need help.

You might call this a funeral service, time to gather around the one who is gone and yet bring the word of God to bear on the matter, the comfort of God, the promises of the Lord. And so they go grab Peter, and they bring him to the upper room.

Here we see the difficulty of the church, the character of this woman, Tabitha, also named Dorcas. Here's her Aramaic name, Tabitha. Here's her Greek name, Dorcas. Jesus had used her to great effect in this church.

He had taken her hands and her feet and made them swift and beautiful to the widows, to the needy. And so, once again, we have Peter on the move. Peter is traveling, and he comes and he sees the situation.

And he comes to the upper room, and what does he find there? All the widows stood by him weeping, showing him the tunics and the garments which Dorcas had made while she was with him.

He had brought them all.

You can just imagine the widows gathering around Peter, showing him this and this through tearful voice, through pained expression, showing all the love that Dorcas had shown them. And what does Peter do?

Now, we would expect at this moment, having been to a funeral or two, that a recounting of her life being offered here, the obituary completed by her dear sisters, these widows, that it's time for Peter to give a message about the hope that we have, that we would not mourn as those who have no hope.

But instead, he kicks them all out of the room. That doesn't make a lot of sense, does it? These grieving people, making them leave the room. This is not only a bad way to conduct a funeral. Peter is just about, well, Jesus is about to ruin this funeral.

He's about to ruin this funeral altogether. Peter puts all of them out of the room. He kneels down and prays. He turns to the body and says, "'Tabitha, arise.'". Now, this sounds really familiar, really familiar.

There's a story in the Gospel of Mark. Of course, we can imagine Peter there in Rome, giving his lectures on the life of Christ, and John Mark furiously writing it all down. But here it is, Mark 5, verses 40 and 41.

And we remember that Jesus was on his way to help a family with a little girl who was sick and who died. And when he got there, he said, "'Oh, she's not dead. She's just sleeping.'". Jesus' famous favorite euphemism for death.

And they ridiculed him, Mark 5, verse 40. They ridiculed him. Now, no one's ridiculing Peter here.

Not at all.

But notice what Jesus does. He calls Peter models in Acts. So watch this. Mark 5, verse 40. "'But when he had put them all outside,' Jesus has them all leave the room, "'he took the father and the mother of the child "'and those who were with him "'and entered where the child was laying.'.

"'So he put the majority of the people out, "'and he goes to where the child was lying, "'and he took the child by the hand and said to her,.

"'Tabitha, come,'.

"'which is translated, Little girl, I say to you, arise.'". So, in Mark 5, Jesus says, "'Talitha, arise.'". Peter, in Acts 9, says, "'Tabitha, arise.'". Are you catching what Luke is giving? You know, Luke is including the details for a purpose.

He's including the details for a reason. And what we're finding is that Peter is not doing something that he's just making up and doing on his own. He is following in the pattern of Jesus Christ. He is not addressing this situation from his own reserves, from his own wisdom, from his own ideas.

Maybe if he did, then the whole situation would have been as I described earlier, and he would have simply comforted the widows as best as he could before he moved on. But here, he is being led by the Holy Spirit.

He is walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. And even as he said to Aeneas, "'Jesus, the Christ heals you. "'Arise and make your bed.'". Here, in the pattern of Christ, by the authority of Christ, he says to the body, "'Tabitha, arise.'".

Having followed the pattern of his Lord and Savior, the risen Jesus Christ. That this is done in the name of Christ, by the power of Christ, is made clear, for as we see at the end of the passage, verse 42, it concludes, "'And many believed on the Lord.'".

See that?

Many believed on the Lord. They weren't putting down, oh, this is a resurrection recipe. This is how we can raise the dead. Peter's figured out a new spiritual technique. Here's some sort of power word or power formula that we can raise the dead if we just mimic Peter.

It is clear, crystal clear, that the reason why Tabitha is alive and not dead is because of Jesus Christ. That is made clear by everything that Peter does and by the word that spreads after her resurrection from the dead.

Now, it is interesting that Peter turns to the body, notice verse 40, he turns to the body and he says, "'Tabitha, arise.'. And she opened her eyes. And just as she was genuinely dead, for sure she was dead.

They had washed her body and laid her in the upper room. So surely she is fully alive. She opens up her eyes. She sees Peter and he lifts her up and she's able to be presented to her brothers and sisters as alive.

Do you know that's not why they called Peter up from Lydah? Do you know that wasn't their plan? They didn't send the men there with a sense of urgency. She died, but we know that if you can get up here soon enough, if you're not dead too long, we know that you can come back from the dead.

That is not their purpose. That is not their mindset. They had called Peter there because of their deep sorrow, because of their weeping and their need for comfort. And Peter has come and this was entirely unexpected.

This was not part of their plan. This was not part of Peter's plan. He had gone down to Lydah. His intention, as we read, was to go visit the saints there. Came down to the saints who dwell at Lydah. That's what his intention was.

We don't have anything about him planning to go to Joppa. This is something that the Lord brings to him and brings him here. They had no idea that Tabitha, that Dorcas, would be raised from the dead. But if you give yourself a little bit to think about what happened in that room, you might begin to feel the strangeness of what happened.

After Peter put them all out of the room. Just the pure weirdness of it. For he sat there, knelt down, he prayed. Who's he praying to? The risen Lord Jesus Christ. And then he turns to the body and he says to a dead body that has eyes that cannot see, ears that cannot hear, a mouth that cannot speak, hands and feet that once were swift, industrious, and beautiful in the work of the Lord, now still and cannot move and cannot grasp, a throat that cannot even be cleared, to say to the dead body, Tabitha, arise.

What goes on there? It doesn't matter how loud Peter yells. It doesn't matter how sweetly he whispers. It doesn't matter how he uses his diction or his grammar. It doesn't matter what language he says it in.

That dead body cannot hear him say, Tabitha, arise, outside of a mighty miracle of God himself. You see what goes on in this room? By every rational argument, Peter has no business talking to a dead body saying,.

Get up, arise.

Except for the fact that he just prayed. And he had just prayed to the risen Lord Jesus, who does this sort of thing. And so he says, get up. Now, let me ask you a question. The dead cannot hear, the dead cannot see, the dead cannot breathe, the dead cannot act, the dead cannot respond.

And yet the word goes out to the dead to do something. If the dead person responds, who gave them the life to respond? It has to be God. It has to be God. And this, what goes on here, the strangeness of what goes on here in this room, is a miracle of lesser proportion and lesser degree than the miracle by which we are all saved.

The grace of God to make us alive together with Christ. Ephesians 2 begins this way, and you he made alive, that's resurrection language, who were dead in trespasses and sins. Dead in trespasses and sins.

In which you once walked. Dead men walking. In which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince and the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.

Among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. Dead in trespasses and sins, meaning separated from God, unable to respond to the word that God gave, because we are enslaved to the devil.

Enslaved to our sins. By very nature, children of wrath. Destined for wrath.

But God.

But God. Verse 4. Who is rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved. And raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Because Jesus has raised from the dead, Peter can say to Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you, get up and make your bed. Because Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, he can say to the dead body of Tabitha,.

Get up.

But more importantly, a far greater vitality, a far greater power,.

Is this.

That the gospel of Jesus Christ may be preached to those who are dead in their trespasses and sins, and say, repent and believe in the gospel, and that these dead would then be made alive and brought into the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

When the disciples doubted that anybody could be saved, who then can be saved? They asked their Lord on one occasion. He said, with God, with man, these things are impossible. With God, all things are possible.

Let's think about this. Miracle that reminds us of the greater miracle of salvation itself. Do we see that our sister, Tabitha Dorcas, oh, she was so well loved. What a great testimony, how productive she was.

Look at all the ministry she did. How many lives that she impacted. But do you know that without Christ, without the life of God, without the providence of God, and without the life of Jesus Christ, do you see how much she could do without Him?

Nothing at all. Do you realize how close each one of us is to this story of Tabitha? Oh, it comes past so quick as we read it. But it happened in those days that she became sick and died.

Oh, my.

How quickly we read that. How fast she went. Do you know how close each one of us is? It doesn't matter if you're in your 20s or your 80s. Do you know what sustains you from day to day? Do you know how the story is different?

That happened in those days that he became sick or she became sick and recovered. Do you know why that happens? The grace of God. The love of God. The providence of God. That's the only reason why. How close each one of us is to something just like this.

How quick life can be snuffed out. And God's good providence and God's good timing. But look at all that she did. But without the providence of God, without Him sustaining her life, what could she do?

She could do nothing. Her body just lay there in the upper room. The point is simply underscored by the fact that God raised her from the dead and she's presented to the saints and the widows there in Joppa.

Why can she continue making this garment and that? Why can she continue minister to this widow and that widow? Why is it that she could continue and to show love to others? Only because of God's life in her.

That's it. Utterly dependent upon the Lord. And look what He brought her through. I don't know what it's like to die and come back. I don't know what it's like to be so sick that death is right around the corner.

I don't know what that's like. What a terrible, terrible experience for Dorcas. Why did she have to go through that? Why did Aeneas have to be paralyzed for eight years? Because of a greater work that God was doing.

Do we see what happens when in the name of Jesus Christ to the glory of God she is raised from the dead and presented to the saints and widows alive? Verse 42 says,. It became known throughout all Joppa.

Now, Joppa is no Lydda. Lydda is a little town in the plains of Sharon. But Joppa, well, we call that Tel Aviv today. And it was pretty big back then. This is a port town. Lots of people coming and going.

And all of Joppa hears that Jesus of Nazareth, who is the Christ, the Son of the living God, who was crucified outside of Jerusalem but raised the third day and ascended to the right hand of the Father, has raised one of his dear sisters from death to life.

And the Gospel goes throughout all of Joppa. Do you see what God did there? Do you see in the wisdom of Christ how He is bringing forth His Gospel through this area? Look how fast the Word goes. You know, when we think about Jesus raising the dead, in John 10, we are reminded of the voice of Christ, how significant and important that is for us.

John 10, verse 27, is Jesus explaining that He's the good shepherd. He has His flock and He has His sheep, and that you can always know whose sheep is whose by whose shepherd they follow. They have, in the ancient Near East, in shepherding practices, nice to kind of have a big fold where all the sheep can spend the night.

But any one shepherd doesn't have that many sheep that he's leading, taking care of. But nice to have all the shepherds together during the night because then they can help keep watch and they can get some sleep.

And so here are four or five different flocks all in the same fold. In the morning, it's time for each one to take their flock out into the field and make sure that they get all that they need. Well, whose sheep is whose?

It's really kind of hard to brand a sheep all through all that wool. Whose are whose? Well, the sheep know their shepherd's voice and they follow him. Shepherd only has to call with the voice he uses all day long with them when they're out in the field and only those sheep will come.

All he has to do is sing his song or whistle his whistle and they know who it is and they just follow him. And Jesus says the same thing here in John chapter 10. Verse 25, Jesus answered them, I told you and you do not believe the works that I do in my father's name.

They bear witness of me. But you do not believe because you are not of my sheep. I said to you, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give them eternal life and they shall never perish.

Neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand. But I and my father are one. Jesus calls Peter, says go to Lyda, he goes.

Go to Joppa, he goes. He says to Tabitha, get up. She hears the voice and like Lazarus comes forth. Now, focusing on the voice of Christ I think is important because it is by the voice of Christ that the dead are raised and the dead are raised.

In John chapter 5, beginning in verse 24, most assuredly I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment but has passed from death into life.

This is a true, genuine resurrection in the risen one. Most assuredly I say to you, the hour is coming and now is, see that, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, that's Jesus, and those who hear will live.

So how are those who are dead in their trespasses and sins, how do they come to life? How are they born again? Because Jesus calls them and all who are his sheep have ears to hear, hearts to respond, they come alive and they follow him.

Verse 26 says, for as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself and he has given him authority to execute judgment also because he is the Son of Man. He's the Son of God, he's the Son of Man.

Now verse 28 says, do not marvel at this, Jesus says, for the hour is coming. Notice he doesn't say and now is. At the first he says the hour is coming and now is when all who hear the voice of the Son of God come alive.

That's a spiritual resurrection, dead in trespasses and sins but now alive in Christ Jesus our Lord. That is a spiritual resurrection because of Christ the risen one. But notice this resurrection as well.

Verse 28, do not marvel at this for the hour is coming. The day is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice and come forth. And I think Jesus knew what he was talking about as he perused with Lazarus.

He knows where the dead are, they're in the graves. And look, the reason why the dead in the graves are going to come forth is because Jesus says so. That's the kind of authority that he wields. And so, here's the risen one saying for all time, being raised from the dead is by the voice of Christ and being raised from the dead is by the voice of Christ.

That's how any resurrection can possibly take place. They will come forth, verse 29 says, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, those who are like Dorcas, like Tabitha, full of the grace of God, saved by his grace, created for good works, prepared beforehand that she would walk in them, and also those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation.

So everybody's going to get raised from the dead. And those under life and those under condemnation, Jesus is going to say it and then sort it. Sheep and goats. The voice, the voice of Christ raises the dead.

And I think that's important for us to ponder. I think that's important for us to ponder. When he calls, sheep come, it's by his voice the dead are raised. Now, the first mountain we looked at was called the Rose of Sharon.

Rose of Sharon. And we thought about that from Song of Solomon, chapter 2, verse 1. The king says, I am the rose of Sharon. Isaiah takes up that theme and says, Behold the king and his beauty, and all things will be made right.

Indeed, Sharon will bloom with roses again. And then, moving past that first passage there in Acts 9, verses 32 to 35, we come to verses 36 and 43, and Luke, just as he did before, giving us two names, oh, it's Lyda, oh, it's Sharon, once again gives us two names.

You think he's trying to tell us something? Her name is Tabitha, translated Dorcas. Well, what is that? Why are we getting both names? Because any way you say it, her name means gazelle. Her name means gazelle.

Why is that even a thing, Luke? Why are you telling us this? We would have been fine with Tabitha. Why are you even saying Dorcas? That doesn't even come into the picture. Well, because Solomon chapter 2, after the king says to his beloved, I am the rose of Sharon, how does she respond?

Well, Solomon 2, verses 8 through 9. The voice of my beloved. The voice of my beloved. Remember that voice. It's the voice that raises the dead. It's the voice that raises the dead. The voice of my beloved.

Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills. My beloved is like a gazelle or young stag. Behold, he stands behind our wall. He is looking through the windows, gazing through the lattice.

You know, Dorcas was really impressive. Oh, what a sister in Christ. What a blessing to any church. But you know who's way more impressive than Tabitha? Jesus Christ. Look at how big of an impact she had.

What a rare thing to have gone through your funeral and seen how your life ended up and to be assessed well, only to come back and, oh, here's some more life. But as swift and beautiful as her feet were, and her hands were, in loving the widows, she couldn't have done any of it without the life that God gave her, without his providence, without his grace.

And look at what Jesus does. Oh, she was a blessing to the widows. Did the gospel spread because of Dorcas? Oh, you know it did. And it was the grace of God. But it was through her death and her helplessness and her inability.

It was through God raising her from the dead that now the gospel goes forth to all of Joppa. Do you know how fast the gospel spreads like that? A lot of people knew Dorcas. A lot of people knew she had died, just like a lot of people knew Lazarus.

As soon as she was raised from the dead, the gospel went speeding like a gazelle. The voice of the beloved went speeding like a gazelle through Joppa. And what is Christ doing here? Well, he is pursuing his bride.

He's pursuing his beloved. He is gathering in those for whom he has died. He is gathering in those for whom he came and lived and died and rose again. And he is using this miraculous moment as the risen Lord Jesus Christ.

He is using this exact moment to push forward the good news of the gospel, the good news of the kingdom. These are just simply the prelude to the story of Peter and Cornelius and the impact on the church.

But things are being set up. Now, God can raise up a man that has been paralyzed for eight years, Peter. And God can raise from the dead a woman who is completely dead, Peter. And Peter, don't you see how the gospel is going forward?

And oh, Peter, by the way, you're going to stay with another guy named Simon. You guys share the same name. It's going to be interesting how that is important later. But you're going to stay with Simon, who is a tanner.

God just keeps on pushing Peter, pushing Peter, pushing Peter. First, he's alone in the room with a dead body. Oh, that's hard for you to do. Ooh, feeling a little unclean. Oh, but God raised her from the dead, so probably okay.

Oh, now you're going to stay with Simon the tanner. You know what a tanner does? Oh, there's dead animals everywhere. You know how hard it is for a Jew to be a tanner and to keep everything kosher and clean?

So much so that the rabbis were fond of saying, This is the same thing about shepherds. But Peter stays with Simon the tanner, hanging out with all kinds of uncleanness. It seems like uncleanness is just pressing in on him.